Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 21
21
Accepted
Significant Department capital funding consistently allocated specifically towards pothole repairs.
Conclusion
Since 2020–21, the Department has provided local authorities with funding from the Potholes fund which, by the end of 2024–25, is expected to total £2.2 billion.38 Along with a further one off top up in 2023–24, specific pothole funding from the Department represented 40% of its capital funding to local authorities in that year.39 In the Autumn Budget 2024 the Chancellor announced a further £500 million for road maintenance, aiming to fix a further one million potholes across England each year.40
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's implied recommendation regarding funding and plans to commission a feasibility study in 2025 to develop a robust monitoring and evaluation framework for local highways maintenance funding. The framework is expected to be operational in 2026 to assess the effectiveness and impact of the capital funding.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2027 5.2 To ensure the development of a robust and proportionate monitoring and evaluation framework, the department plans to commission a feasibility study in 2025 to understand the current state of evidence, evidence gaps and data collection mechanisms in local authorities. This will then help scope evaluation questions and identify appropriate approaches for monitoring and evaluating the department’s local highways maintenance funding. 5.3 Following the completion of the feasibility study and dependent on its recommendations, a monitoring and evaluation framework will be developed for operation in 2026, with the aim of generating regular evaluation reports, to help understand the effectiveness and impact of the department’s capital funding support for local highways authorities. 5.4 A key part of the monitoring and evaluation framework will be to utilise national data collection mechanisms to understand the effects of the funding on road condition. This could include, for example, data on local roads maintenance gathered through the new Integrated Settlement outcomes framework for Mayoral Combined Authorities. It could also utilise any other data shared by local highways authorities to access their full funding in financial year 2025-26, part of which is being held back until local authorities can prove that they are meeting certain criteria. The department will engage with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local government during the design and delivery of the evaluation given their responsibility for the overall funding system for local government.